The town of Baeza turned out to be one of the more memorable
experiences of our trip to Andalucía. We arrived during the siesta time on a
Saturday afternoon, which meant that the two of us were almost the only people
walking the streets of the sleepy town. We saw a couple of men at the local bar,
but that seemed to be all the excitement the town had to offer. Suddenly, on
our way back to the car, three girls dressed in traditional Spanish dresses
came down the road. We stuck around a bit longer and through sheer luck
happened upon a small local pilgrimage. It was in honour of Our Lady of the
Rosel, the patron saint of La Yedra - a hamlet of Baeza. A long procession
of carts, horses, tractors, all decorated for the occasion, and pilgrims walked
with the Virgin to her shrine. Apparently the origin of the worship
goes back to Arab times. All of a sudden we were in the middle of all the
local festivities, being bombarded with colour and gaiety all around us.
We also took to the streets, joined the procession and listened to the locals
singing various festive songs.

I felt honoured to be there, because here was the ‘real’ Andalucía,
hidden in plain sight from the tourists, but allowing us to witness again the
true reason why we travel: not to visit those sights that are packaged for the
tourists, but to see those things that authentically broaden our horizons.

Image credits: Most of these photos were taken by my sister, Elanie Fourie

In our house, we are avid fans of the Tour de France and would
normally move heaven and earth to see as much of Le Tour on the TV as possible.
For the past couple of years we started to follow the Giro d'Italia, but surprisingly,
we have never watched the Vuelta a España, the big cycling tour of Spain. Maybe
the TV coverage is move extensive this year, I guess. Anyway, this past week
the riders covered a lot of ground in the area of Andalucía in the South of
Spain. They started in Jerez and cycled through towns such as Rhonda, Cordoba
and Granada.

All the beautiful sights on TV made me rather nostalgic. In
2006, pre-baby for me and pre-marriage for my sister, the two of us set off for
Spain. We hired a car in Malaga and for the next 10 days we made funny and heart-warming
memories travelling through Andalucía. Elanie’s suitcase did not arrive in
Malaga and for the first three days she wore my clothes – we look like twins in
my standard strappy-top-and-khaki-shirt holiday outfits. We were bitten by
bedbugs in a really nice youth hostel in Seville, ate delicious ice cream in Puerto
Banus, leant how to drive like the Spaniards (hanging out the winding and
shouting “pasar, pasar” while we try to read our inadequate maps) and got tipsy
in 45 degrees Celsius (the sherry houses in Jerez are not shy when they pour
tasters). Whereas Elanie loved the warm weather I actually started to cry in
Cordoba because of the heat, but it was still one of the most incredible places
I’ve ever been. We saw row upon row of olive trees, watched the Andalusian
horses dance, drank lots of Lemon Kass, stumbled on a local pilgrimage in a small
town and watched locals playing and dancing the flamenco. The trip was also
special for another reason. The age difference between Elanie and me is five
years and before this trip that gap meant that we lived our separate lives far
from each other, but this trip cemented a friendship beyond just sisterly love.

So, I dusted off the hard drive with the photos of our trip
and thought I’ll share a few of those memories with you….

Image credits: We downloaded all our photos to one place, but I am pretty sure most of these ones (especially the really nice ones) were taken by Elanie.

In the last couple of years, Johannesburg has really caught the outdoor market bug. It’s not surprising either, given that for too long, relaxing away from your home was basically either limited to walking up and down a mall, or otherwise taking quite a drive out of town. Now, places like Arts on Main, the Neighbourgoods Market and the Bryanston Organic Market are stepping into this gap, and doing it Jozi style!

A few Sunday’s ago, we packed the kids in the car and drove to Fourways to have lunch at what, at least in our opinion, may be one of the best of the markets - the Fourways Farmers Market. It is located opposite Montecasino and forms part of the Earth Outdoor Living Nursery. The nursery offers a spacious outdoor venue under big trees, and with bunting all over and hay bales scattered on the grass, it all works together to create a lovely, quaint country setting. The stalls offer organic and local produce and we were super impressed with the variety and quality on offer. Add to that the craft beer and bubbles, live music and the kiddies play area, and you have the recipe for a lovely ways to spend an morning in Johannesburg!